When Intel launched its first six-core x86 microprocessor — a high-end processor to crunch huge amount of data — designed and developed by its Indian team, there was relief at its India office.
This made-in-India project, code-named Dunnington, was launched after another much-touted India-specific project— Whitefield — was aborted mid-way by Intel in 2005, citing ‘business reasons’.
Praveen Vishakantaiah, a Bangalore-boy and the first one from Bangalore to head Intel India’s operations led this project from the front. Prior to this, he was the director of Intel’s Digital Enterprise Group and has been part of the microprocessor design team. He has rich experience in the development of Pentium II, Pentium III and Pentium IV microprocessors at Intel.
“I always used to refer to my team here internally as Dunnington from ‘Dunn (Done) in garden town’ (Bangalore),” says this Bangalorean.
He had his early schooling from the Indian Preparatory School in Malleswaram (a traditional locality in Bangalore), and higher secondary schooling from MES College before pursuing his BE in electronics and communication from Regional Engineering College, Tiruchirapalli.
Having joined Intel, US, in 1993 after his MS and PhD in electrical and computer engineering from University of Texas, Austin, Vishakantaiah has been involved in various leadership positions for developing a series of microprocessors.
When in 2005, Intel decided to cancel the Whitefield Project, to design next-generation Xeon processors for servers, Vishakantaiah had been with Intel India for two years.
This was a hard time for the company, as it had to explain to the critics the reasons for the cancellation of the Whitefield project. This decision, which the company explained as a ‘business need’, had hurt every Indian. This was also the time the hardware design industry was in a nascent stage.
“This is always a disappointment, though it was clearly a business decision made based on the new business roadmap,” says Vishakantaiah. In October, he will complete a year as the president of the global chipmaker’s Indian operations.
Operation Whitefield’s failure, however, proved to be a blessing in disguise since the 600-odd design engineers trained as part of the project, gave the company a strong manpower base to take on the next big project for the company — Dunnington.
“When we decided to start the hardware design in India, the senior management of the company had a lot of confidence in Indian talent and their ability to learn and innovate,” says Vishakantaiah.
“Intel delivering this kind of complex products out of India is not something many countries can claim to have seen. My personal view is we (in India) have got the talent and capability, and now is the time to harness the potential, which clearly requires a lot of leadership development and confidence from the senior management team,” he adds.
The decision to return to India in 2003 was his own , says Vishakantaiah. “At that point, I really felt that here is an opportunity to work in India and put the country on the global silicon design map. This gave me the leadership opportunity to drive a project forward.”
Even as the Dunnington team is now transitioning to the ‘next big project’, Vishakantaiah is also riding the learning curve.
A hardcore engineer, who metamorphosed into a leader, he is now mastering the art of engaging external systems such as the industry, government and academia, and how to influence the ecosystem. This is what his job requires in India, apart from delivering many other complex projects in days to come.
